Turquoise-Inlaid Bronze Plaques from the Erlitou Culture: Origin and Transmission

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Turquoise-Inlaid Bronze Plaques from the Erlitou Culture: Origin and Transmission Turquoise-Inlaid Bronze Plaques from the Erlitou Culture: Origin and Transmission By Mao Sun Submitted to the graduate degree program in East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. ________________________________ Chairperson, Professor Crispin Williams ________________________________ Professor John Hoopes ________________________________ Professor Amy McNair ________________________________ Professor Keith McMahon ________________________________ Date Defended: April 24, 2017 The Thesis Committee for Mao Sun certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Turquoise-Inlaid Bronze Plaques from the Erlitou Culture: Origin and Transmission ________________________________ Chairperson, Crispin Williams Date approved: May 9, 2017 ii Acknowledgements Many people have generously helped me with this thesis. Without their support and help, I couldn’t have completed this project. First, I owe my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Professor Crispin Williams who has provided unremitting guidance and encouragement throughout the entire process of research and the writing of this thesis. I am also deeply grateful to Professor John Hoopes who has helped me with archaeological theories and spent much time editing my thesis. My thanks also go to Professors Amy McNair and Keith McMahon, for their time and thoughtful comments. I would also like to thank Professors Xu Hong and Ye Xiaohong at the Institute of Archaeology of the Central Academy of Social Sciences, and Professor Li Jaang at Zhengzhou University for their many conversations with me and for providing their insights on the Erlitou culture, turquoise working techniques, and interactions with the Eurasian Steppe. I also owe tremendous gratitude to Professors Katherine Linduff at the University of Pittsburg, Adam Smith at the University of Pennsylvania, and John Younger at the University of Kansas for the many suggestions they provided during my research. I also owe tremendous thanks to Professor Rowan Flad at Harvard University and Keith Wilson at the Freer and Sackler Galleries for informing me about the scientific research conducted on the turquoise-inlaid plaques in their collections. I also owe heartfelt thanks to my fellow graduate students who made my life full of great memories during my studies at the University of Kansas, especially Taraneh Aghdaie for proofreading the thesis. Finally I would like to thank my parents and grandmother for their love and support. iii Abstract This paper focuses on turquoise-inlaid plaques excavated at the Erlitou site in order to understand their origin, function, the technology used in their manufacture, and their transmission. The turquoise-inlaid plaque, a ritual object probably worn on the arm, was an innovation of Erlitou elites made to serve a ritual purpose. They combined an existing technique from the lower Yellow River region of producing neatly trimmed turquoise inlay with a tradition from the Hami Basin region of making attachable bronze plaques of various shapes. Symbolic of a more advanced society, these plaques were transmitted to the Qijia and Sanxingdui societies, indicating the spread of the elite culture of Erlitou society. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Introduction: Connecting Erlitou, Qijia, and Sanxingdui Cultures................................................. 1 1. Turquoise-inlaid Bronze Plaques Connecting the Erlitou, Qijia, and Sanxingdui Cultures ... 1 2. Past Studies on Connections through Turquoise-Inlaid Plaques ............................................. 5 3. Research Questions ................................................................................................................. 6 4. Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1: Turquoise-Inlaid Bronze Plaques and Their Function ................................................ 11 1. Excavated Turquoise-inlaid Bronze Plaques......................................................................... 11 1.1 Excavated turquoise-inlaid bronze plaques from the Erlitou culture .............................. 11 1.2 Excavated turquoise-inlaid bronze plaques from the Sanxingdui culture. ...................... 15 1.3 Excavated and collected turquoise-inlaid bronze plaques from the Qijia culture ........... 17 2. Turquoise-inlaid Bronze Plaques from Museums outside China .......................................... 18 2.1 A turquoise-inlaid bronze plaque from the Miho Museum ............................................. 19 2.2 A turquoise-inlaid bronze plaque from the Honolulu Museum of Art ............................ 20 2.3 Turquoise-inlaid bronze plaques from the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution ............................................................................................................................... 20 2.4 Turquoise-inlaid bronze plaques from the Sackler Museum at Harvard University ....... 21 3. Turquoise-inlaid Bronze Plaques from Private Collections .................................................. 22 4. Functions of Erlitou Turquoise-inlaid Bronze Plaques ......................................................... 23 Chapter 2: Origin and Transmission of Turquoise-Inlay Techniques from the Neolithic to the Erlitou Periods .............................................................................................................................. 28 1. Physical Properties, Exploitation, and Working Techniques of Turquoise in Ancient China ................................................................................................................................................... 28 2. Turquoise Inlay Techniques in the Neolithic Period ............................................................. 33 2.1 Turquoise inlay techniques in the lower Yellow River region ........................................ 34 2.2 Turquoise inlay techniques in the lower Yangzi River region ........................................ 37 2.3 Turquoise inlay techniques in the middle Yellow River region ...................................... 40 2.4 Turquoise inlay techniques in the upper Yellow River region ........................................ 42 3. Turquoise Inlay Techniques in the Erlitou period ................................................................. 44 3.1 Turquoise inlay techniques in the middle Yellow River region during the Erlitou Period ............................................................................................................................................... 44 v 3.2 Turquoise inlay techniques in the upper Yellow River region during the Erlitou period 45 Chapter 3: Origin and Transmission of Turquoise-Inlaid Bronze Plaques ................................... 47 1. Local Tradition Versus Non-local Tradition ......................................................................... 47 2. Likely Prototypes from Tianshanbeilu .................................................................................. 49 3. Additional Evidence from Circular Plaques and Knives with Ring-shaped Pommels ......... 50 4. The Interaction Sphere Model and Cultural Hegemony ....................................................... 53 Conclusion: Seeing a Broader Picture of the Proto-Silk-Road ..................................................... 57 Illustrations ................................................................................................................................... 60 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 91 vi Introduction: Connecting Erlitou, Qijia, and Sanxingdui Cultures Since 1981, three rectangular turquoise-inlaid bronze plaques have been excavated at the Erlitou 二里头 site. They are considered to be the most representative artifacts of the elite culture of the Erlitou society. Similar plaques have also been found at the Qijia 齐家 and Sanxingdui 三星堆 sites. The discoveries of these plaques shed light on the interactions among Erlitou, Qijia, and Sanxingdui cultures in the first half of the second millennium BCE and help us understand the transmission of representative artifacts of the elite culture of Erlitou society to less complex societies, and the formative stage of state-level society at Erlitou. 1. Turquoise-inlaid Bronze Plaques Connecting the Erlitou, Qijia, and Sanxingdui Cultures In 1951, with the guidance of historical texts, Xu Xusheng took on the task of searching for the “ruins of Xia” and discovered the site of Erlitou.1 Test excavations of the site that year had revealed a rich cultural deposit representing occupations spanning from the late Longshan period to the early Shang period, and had recovered an abundance of cultural materials.2 On the basis of the spatial distribution of the cultural deposit and richness of its contents as revealed by subsequent excavations, Xia Nai officially named this archaeological culture the “Erlitou culture” after the site in 1962.3 1 Xu Xusheng 徐旭生, “1959 nian xia yuxi diaocha xiaxu de chubu baogao” 1959 年夏豫西调查夏墟的初步报告 [Preliminary
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